Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German monk of the Order of St. Augustine. He was a biblical scholar and a successful preacher. He taught at a university and had a pastoral assignment as well. This latter assignment helped him to become a famous homilist.
For much of his life he worried about his personal salvation, and he did not find the theological traditions of the Catholic Church, including indulgences, to be satisfactory to explain salvation. He concluded that only God could justify a sinner and that the traditional Catholic methods of preaching salvation were insufficient.
He finally concluded that humans were saved when God justifies them and that traditional religious formulas like indulgences and grace gained via the sacraments would not do. People were justified through divine grace given directly by God.
Luther knew that he disagreed with most if not all Catholic theologians on this point, and he needed a methodology to justify his conclusions. He decided upon “Scripture alone,” that is, he would accept as his method what could be found in the Bible and there alone.
“Scripture alone” could not work for Catholics because church authorities, from Rome down to the parish level, accepted Scripture but only as interpreted by leading theologians, such as the Scholastic scholar Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in the universities and theological schools. Also, there were centuries of papal teachings that also had to be included on this topic.
Luther hoped to explain his views via a theological debate, which usually meant two or more theologians would debate religious theses. On Oct. 31, 1517, Luther tacked on the church door in Wittenburg a list of 95 theses that he would debate if any other theologian would take up his challenge.
But a debate would never take place because in that era there was no separation of church and state. To threaten one was to threaten both. The civil authorities became concerned about Luther’s views, not because of their theology but because if he challenged the church, he was challenging them.
Luther soon found himself both excommunicated and an outlaw in the Holy Roman Empire who frequently had to hide. But a sympathetic nobleman, the elector of Saxony, protected him, even though both the elector and Luther realized how dangerous the situation was becoming. The Holy Roman Emperor labeled Luther an outlaw and one possibly subject to the death penalty, a charge that haunted his life.
But Luther’s views were spreading in Germany, and the number of his followers grew. Luther had a great pastoral sense, and he wrote some marvelous sermons and also hymns. But perhaps his greatest step was to translate the New Testament into German because he felt it would show that the Scriptures make no reference to sacraments or indulgences or the papacy.
To be sure, Catholic theology has always accepted the development of doctrine and not a simple adherence to the Bible, but Luther’s translation was a sensation and won over many to his cause. Even some Catholics purchased his Bible so that they could read the scriptural texts. The popularity of Luther’s translation forced the German bishops to authorize an approved Catholic translation.
By the 1530s it was becoming clear that the schism in Germany would persist. Significantly, other reformers appeared, such as Luther’s associate Philip Melanchthon, the Swiss preacher Ulrich Zwingli, and the French theologian John Calvin. All called for reform of the church and broke away from Roman Catholicism. Even a non-theologian, Henry VIII, king of England, broke off from Rome. The split in the church would not be healed.
One minor event would have a significant future. In 1529 some followers of Luther and other dissidents demonstrated against the Holy Roman Emperor, who referred to the dissidents as “those who are protesting,” which in Latin is “protestantes.” The name caught on and then stuck for good — Protestants.
Later on Luther married and had children; his writings about family piety have long been considered as guidelines for German Lutherans.
Many practices that Luther introduced were adopted, although much later, by Roman Catholics, such as the liturgy in the vernacular, a product of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).
Luther was a remarkable man who risked his life for what he believed to be the truth. For centuries Catholics considered him a heretic at best and a resident of hell at the worst.
To be sure, the church still does not accept his basic teachings, but Catholics, including church authorities, do recognize that the church in the 16th century needed reform. They, of course, lament that Luther’s reform led to a break up. Indeed, many Catholic reformers hoped to effect change in their traditional beloved, church but Luther’s movement forced the issue before the reformers could do much.
People have joked that Catholic ecumenism will some day produce a St. Martin Luther. Not likely, but modern Catholic scholars and ecclesiastics acknowledge that Luther was not the unvarnished villain of traditional Catholicism and that he and his work deserve an open, honest evaluation.
— Joseph F. Kelly
(Joseph F. Kelly is retired professor at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.)
